Clarity creates conviction, conviction strengthens commitment, and commitment builds community. These things are important as we dedicate ourselves to growing and strengthening our community. That’s why I’d like to start the year with several articles on the DNA of our church. Whether you are new to ABCModesto or a faithful member, it’s always good to get back to the basics and reiterate what we value.

This week it’s our mission statement. A mission statement provides an objective reference point that we can use to evaluate the effectiveness of our ministry. It can also allow us to recognize when we suffer the effects of mission drift. So let’s look at each part of our mission statement

We exist to glorify God - this furnace in the factory that drives everything. By glorify, we mean to make God known. We exist as a place that introduces people to the knowledge of God and then promotes their growth in understanding who He is. We are not a political organization, we are not a social change organization, we are not a club. We are a community knitted together by God to put Him on display in our community.
Through the Fulfillment of the Great Commission - the great commission is found in Matthew 28:10-20 and it tells that as we are going, that is living our lives under the Gospel mandate, we to be making disciples…that is people like us who Worship Jesus Christ, Walk with Jesus Christ, and Work for Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is our theological and philosophical reason for existing. We exist to make disciples of Jesus, not Republicans, cultural conservatives, or moral Americans. While a disciple may be any of these, being any one of them does not make a person a Christian. Only answering and obeying the call to “follow me” proves a person to be a disciple of Jesus.

So if there is all this emphasis on being a disciple of Jesus, what exactly is a disciple? Looking at the Scripture it’s clear that an image arises from observing the followers of Jesus. Three nonreducible realities are evident and they are:

Disciples Worship Jesus Christ - worship is the act of ascribing the highest value, appreciation, and adoration to a person or object. Disciple directs their worship entirely and completely to Jesus Christ. Disciples joyfully worship God alone even if the world worships everything else but God.

Disciples Walk with Jesus Christ - the disciples lived in a relationship with Jesus, no Zoom disciples existed or will ever exist. This is done in conversation the elements of which are reading and prayer. By reading, we hear the voice of God; by prayer, we respond.

Disciples Work for Jesus - they obey him, carry out his will, and perform the duties of being a disciple, even at great personal cost.

It beggars the imagination to think of a disciple who walks with Jesus but won’t obey Him. Or what of a disciple that worships Him but won’t work for Him? Remove any one of these three distinctives and you have a model of discipleship which is rejected by Scripture.

As you reflect on these things ask yourself a few questions. First, where are you strong? Will you help someone weaker or new in the faith? Where are you struggling? Have you considered scheduling an appointment with your church for counseling? Where are you weak? Who could come alongside you for mentoring? Here’s the goal, full and mature discipleship that sees all of your life transformed by the disciplines of working, walking, and worshiping Jesus Christ.